


Teach Your Children Well

by lls_mutant



Category: Glee
Genre: Families of Choice, Meeting the Parents, Multi, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-01
Updated: 2011-09-01
Packaged: 2017-10-23 08:03:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/248026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lls_mutant/pseuds/lls_mutant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Burt and Carole aren't exactly thrilled about Finn and Kurt's relationships, but for different reasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Teach Your Children Well

The pots clanking in the kitchen gave away Carole's expression even before Burt saw her face. "What is it?" he asked, coming in. "What's wrong? Something happen at the plant?"

Carole was fumbling around down in the cupboard, pulling out pots. "No. Work was fine."

"Okay." Burt cringed as she pulled especially hard and the pots banged against each other. "One of the boys?"

Carole yanked again, and this time ended up falling back as several pots tumbled out. She swore angrily, and Burt bent down to help her pick them up. "Carole? What's wrong?"

"It's Finn," Carole said. She got back to her feet and began stuffing the cabinet full again. "He invited a guest to dinner tonight."

"A guest." Burt sat back on his heels. Guests had only ever been invited to Friday night dinners if they were already staying in the house anyway. Carole and Finn had been the first ones they'd ever let into that ritual.

Carole was shaking her head. "I told him," she was saying. "I told him that Friday night dinners are for the four of us, and that inviting someone wasn't a good idea. But do you know what he said?" She didn't wait for an answer. "He said that she might be family someday anyway."

"She?"

"He's dating Quinn Fabray again."

"Oh. _Oh._ " Well. That explained a hell of a lot. Burt took a step back. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah. I know. I didn't either." Carole abandoned all pretense of dealing with the pots. "It's not just that she cheated on him, Burt, although that's bad enough. She _lied_ to him about who the baby's father was. She made Finn believe that he was going to be a father- she made him make promises and nearly throw his life away- when he had no responsibility at all. Why the hell would he ever go back to her?"

Burt had seen Quinn, so he could hazard a pretty good guess. But he had the suspicion that wasn't the best thing to say to Carole right now. In fact, it was probably best to just agree with her, unless he wanted one of those pots launched at his head.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" he finally said.

Carole shook her head. "Not right now. I need to make dinner."

Burt refrained from pointing out that he could talk to Finn while Carole made dinner, and instead asked, "Do you need any help?"

"I do," Carole said. "If you could have any meal tonight and I would do everything in my power to shut Kurt up and not let him say a word about heart attacks, what would it be?"

"Your homemade macaroni and cheese," Burt said immediately.

"Perfect. Get the cheddar out, will you? I'm making the most fat-laden recipe I can." She smirked. "Let's see if she keeps that perky ass and skinny figure for long."

"If it makes you feel better," Burt wanted to say, and then thought better of it. Carole's mac and cheese was not to be missed, and he wasn't going to rock the boat.

***

Looking at the dinner table, an outsider never would have realized just how angry Carole was about their guest. The house was clean and smelled faintly of lemon Pledge, and the carpet still bore the lines of the vacuum cleaner. The table was set with the best casual china, following all the rules of etiquette, if not Emily Post specifically. The glasses gleamed and the cloth napkins were out. A covered casserole dish sat in the center, along with a wooden bowl of salad, a basket of bread, and a bowl of asparagus that had been made at the last minute to shut Kurt up (along with a serious talk about who exactly was the parent and who was the child, and the etiquette of commenting on others' eating choices). There were unlit candles and a vase of flowers, and everything smelled fantastic.

"So. Quinn." Carole served her a nice big helping of macaroni and cheese. "How's school going?"

"All right, thank you." Quinn sat very stiffly between Finn and Burt and spoke with an obvious formality.

"Are you still on the cheerleading squad?"

Quinn's face fell, but she tried to hide it. "No. It… didn't work out."

"She had to choose glee club over the Cheerios," Finn jumped in. "Like they tried to make us choose football over glee."

"I see." If Finn thought that would endear Quinn to Carole, he was obviously mistaken.

Quinn cleared her throat. "I haven't seen you around, Kurt," she said, picking delicately at her salad. "How's Dalton?"

"It's fine," Kurt said shortly, rearranging his asparagus. "Although I've yet to meet anyone who's rated an invitation to a Friday night dinner." He said it lightly, but he glared at Burt as he spoke. Burt glared back, silently reminding his son this was not the time or place for this argument.

"Well, I'm sure you'll meet someone," Quinn said, oblivious to what the real exchange was about. "Everyone misses you at glee club."

"Really." Kurt tried to sound above it.

"Yes. Rachel, of course." Quinn rolled her eyes, then remembered where she was and stopped mid-roll. "And Tina and Mercedes. And Puck."

"And how _is_ Puck these days?" Carole asked.

Both Finn and Quinn stared at her like a pair of deer caught in headlights, and Burt couldn't blame them. That was as pointed a "fuck you" as Carole was going to get. Burt shot her a look and then took pity on the kids and changed the subject. As he, Finn, and Quinn started talking about McKinley's chances at actually fielding a decent football team next year, the tension eased a bit. Quinn even knew a bit about the game she used to cheer for, and by the time everyone finished dinner they'd picked a starting lineup. Carole and Kurt had remained almost entirely silent, even when Finn put Kurt in the kicker's slot, but maybe that was for the best.

"I'm sorry," Carole said when the kids had disappeared into the living room and she and Burt were alone in the kitchen. "I'm just not rational when it comes to her."

"I'll say, but I guess I can't say I blame you."

"You said you'd talk to Finn?" She looked up at him with such hope, he almost regretted it.

"I can talk to him," Burt said, "but I can't make any promises. Sometimes you've got to work these things out for yourself."

"I know," Carole sighed. "I just don't want him to get into a mess like he did last time."

Which was a point. You'd think Finn _would_ have worked it out for himself by now. "I'll talk to him," Burt promised.

***

"Finn?" Burt knocked on the doorjamb. "Mind if I come in?"

"Oh, sure." Finn put his game controller aside. "What's up?"

"Quinn make it home?"

"Yeah. I drove her."

Burt wandered into Finn's room, hands in his pockets. It was funny- once he'd dreamed about talking to Kurt about girls, and been disappointed that that would never happen. Now he was faced with his stepson, who was definitely into girls, and Burt was realizing this wasn't really that much easier a conversation than talking to Kurt about boys. It was different, sure, and in some ways it was easier, but in other ways, it wasn't."

"Pretty girl, Quinn," Burt finally said, deciding just to shoot straight and take the bull by the horns.

Finn nodded. "Yeah," he said, smiling. "Yeah. She is."

"You know, though, there's a lot more to a girl than being pretty."

"I know that." Finn looked offended. "I dated Rachel for a long time. I mean, Rachel's still pretty, yeah, but she's not pretty like Quinn."

Personally, Burt thought Rachel was prettier than Quinn, but that wasn't the point. "I'm just saying… there's a lot of history between you and Quinn. A lot of bad blood. What makes you think this time around is going to be any better?"

Finn frowned and then shrugged. "Because she says so. You've gotta trust people in a relationship, right"

"Only if they've earned your trust," Burt said. "You should be able to trust them, not just trust them blindly."

"Right." Finn was staring at him like he was trying to work out a very difficult puzzle, and for a moment, Burt just wanted to take him by the shoulders and shake him. Sure, Finn wasn't any Ivy League student or anything, but he was normally plenty smart when it came to people.

Of course, Finn had to want to understand.

Finn was still staring at him. Finally, he looked at the television. "You want me to show you how to play?" he offered, gesturing to the game.

"Sure." Burt sat down beside his stepson, and Finn began to explain the game. It wasn’t overly difficult (Burt had been a killer Pac-Man player when he was a teenager), but it was fun. Burt tried to bring up Quinn several more times, but Finn kept changing the subject back to the game. After his fourth try, Burt took the hint.

"You were up there for a long time," Carole said when he came to bed. "Did you have a good talk?"

They'd barely talked at all, at least about Quinn, but Burt didn't quite know how to say that. "I tried," he said, which was true. "But I've got to tell you, Carole, he's going to do what he's going to do."

Carole lay back against her pillows, crossing her arms with a huff. "We'll see what you have to say when Kurt brings home someone completely inappropriate," she said.

Burt kissed her on the cheek. "I'll be just as calm. You'll see."

***

Carole didn't glory in saying _I told you so_ , but… okay. That was a lie. Carole loved being able to say _I told you so_ , she was just smart enough not to say it.

"I'm not upset," Burt told her for the seventh time as he paced the living room, peering out the window for Kurt's car. "He's an okay kid. He's just dumb as a box of rocks. What kind of kid tells his boyfriend's father to have a sex talk with him?"

"They weren't boyfriends then," Carole said, sounding mild but inside laughing her ass off.

"I'm just saying," Burt said. "He had to have some clue he liked Kurt, right? You don't just wake up one day and say, 'hey, I think I'll fall for my friend today'. And that's another thing. If he did fall that fast, who's to say he's not gonna change his mind again like that?"

Carole shrugged. "I hate to say it, but if he does, he does. Kurt will survive."

"Of course he will." Burt seemed to take offense at that. "He's a strong kid." He looked out the window again and jingled his keys in his pocket. "I just don't know what to make of the kid."

"He seems like a nice kid that really likes Kurt," Carole said. "Come talk to me when he cheats on Kurt with his best friend and then lies about the paternity of the resultant baby." Her timer beeped and she quickly disappeared into the kitchen to get the baked ziti from the oven.

When she came back out, Kurt and Blaine had arrived, and Finn had emerged from his own bedroom, either drawn by politeness or pasta. Burt was shaking hands with Blaine and putting on manners, and so Carole relaxed.

"So Blaine," Burt said as they all sat down to dinner, "are you starting to think about what you'll be doing after school yet?"

"Some," Blaine said, sitting up a little straighter and looking serious. "I've been starting to look at colleges."

"In Ohio?"

"Some. But also in New York, California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania."

"Majoring in music?" Burt asked suspiciously.

"Actually, no," Blaine said with a little smile. "I mean, I'd like to keep music as a part of my life, sure. But I'm not quite sure what I want to do yet."

"Well, I think you would be _amazing_ on stage," Kurt said confidently. "I'm sure you'll get into NYU's theater program if you apply."

Blaine looked touched by the compliment. "Well, all I can do is try."

The conversation turned easily to other subjects- school, glee club, regionals. Blaine was an easy-going young man, and he had a real gift for putting others at ease as well. Carole privately thought he'd do extremely well in a people-related career, something like nursing or psychology or sales. Even Burt relaxed as the dinner went on. Oddly enough, it was Carole who didn't. It wasn't Blaine- it was Kurt. Kurt, who was wildly happy in this first romance, who was staring at Blaine like he could walk on water.

Carole didn't want to, but she had a bad feeling about this.

***

She waited until late that night to go up to talk to him. "Kurt? Honey? Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

Kurt moved aside on his bed. "Is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine. I just wanted…" Carole studied Kurt and realized that he wasn't like Finn, where she had to tiptoe around him. Kurt wouldn’t run scared at the first sign of a serious discussion, so Carole decided to be direct. "I wanted to talk to you about Blaine."

"Did Dad put you up to this?" Kurt asked. "Because we haven't been doing anything that-"

"No. No, not at all. And that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Carole drew in a deep breath, rubbing her hands on her jeans. "It's more about, well… this is serious with you and Blaine, isn't it?"

Kurt flushed. "Well, yes. It is." He was glowing a little. "Do you like him?"

"I do," Carole said immediately, not lying at all. "I like him a lot."

"I know. He's wonderful, isn't he?" Kurt sighed.

"Kurt? Can I ask you something?" Kurt nodded. "Where do you see this relationship going?"

"Like you said, it's serious."

"That's what I thought." Carole turned towards him, picking up his hand. Kurt startled at her touch for a moment, but then relaxed. His hand was smooth and soft and cool in between hers. "Kurt, I don't want you to take this wrong, all right? Like I said, I like Blaine. I think he's a wonderful first boyfriend for you, and I think that the two of you have a very nice relationship. But I also think that you fall very hard, very fast, with all your heart."

Kurt drew his hand away. "So?" he said, straightening up and getting defensive already. "And you're wrong. I don't."

 _You do_ , Carole thought, but she managed to bite her tongue all the same. "I just… worry about you," she said carefully. "I worry that you'll be too eager to keep this, and that-"

"That what?" Kurt said, the ice growing thicker and thicker. "That I'll throw myself at him? That I'll lose all dignity? That I'll sleep with him too soon? What are you worried about, Carole?"

 _That you'll be left standing in the middle of the street, throwing a carton of milk at him as he leaves and breaks your heart completely._ "I just want you to be careful of your heart, Kurt. That's all. I know you're a almost an adult now and I know that Blaine is a wonderful guy who would never hurt you intentionally, but… you're both seventeen. Do you see what I'm trying to say?"

"I do," Kurt said stiffly, but he softened as he looked at her. "And thank you for caring, Carole. But we'll be fine."

"I know you will," Carole said, realizing that pushing it any more would only serve to push Kurt away from her. "I'm sorry if I overstepped."

"No. It's hideously embarrassing, but it's kind of nice," Kurt said with a little smile.

Carole smiled and hugged him, and he hugged her back. At least it ended on a good note, even if nothing she'd said had gotten through to Kurt. But then, when she was seventeen, nothing anyone had said had gotten through to her, either, because everything was going to be amazing, wonderful, and _fine_. Carole had once believed in those fairy tales, too.

***

"Hey." Finn sat down beside Kurt on the couch. "What are you doing tomorrow night?"

Kurt looked up from his magazine. "Going out with Blaine. Just to the movies. Why?"

"You want to double?" Kurt stared at him, and Finn squirmed a little. "A double date," he elaborated. "Like, you and Blaine and me and Quinn. We could go to the movie and maybe all get dinner at Breadstix together or something."

"Going to ask Dad and Carole as well?" Kurt said.

"Haha. Wait, that was a joke, right?" Finn asked. Kurt nodded. "Okay. But yeah. I just don't see much of you while you're at Dalton, so…."

"Do you think _Quinn_ will want to go on a double date with us?" Kurt asked. "President of the Celibacy Club Quinn?"

"Hey, she's always been nice to you," Finn said. "Well, since glee."

"She has," Kurt admitted.

"Besides, it was her idea when I was complaining you and I don't see each other much."

"All right. Rachel will have my head, but… sure."

"Cool." Finn settled back on the couch. "Do you ever get the idea that Mom's trying to hide that she hates Quinn?"

"I have no idea where you would ever come up with that accusation," Kurt said dryly.

"I mean, I get it, but… Quinn's more than that, you know? Even Burt doesn't get that. I thought he would."

Kurt put his magazine down and paid full attention to the conversation. "From what you've told me, you two didn't really get back together in the best of ways."

"No, yeah, that wasn't my shining moment or anything," Finn admitted guiltily. "But people get together in all sorts of strange ways."

"Like one person insulting the other and then singing about a dead bird."

"Right! Wait, what?"

"Never mind." Kurt sighed heavily. "I do know what you mean. I can't shake the feeling that Dad and Carole are watching Blaine like he's the Big Bad Wolf or something. I can take care of myself."

"They're worried about _Blaine_?"

Kurt shrugged.

"Seriously," Finn said, sitting back on the couch and spreading his arms across the back. "How do parents get to be such idiots?"

"I don't know, but I'd give a lot to see you ask them that question."

Finn laughed. "So we're on for Saturday night?"

"Sounds good."

***

Saturday night the house was quiet. "It's kind of nice," Carole said, curling against Burt as they cuddled up on the couch, her with a glass of wine and Burt with a beer. "I like them going out together. I feel like they get in less trouble."

"Or at least a different kind of trouble," Burt said.

"True." She leaned her head against Burt's shoulder. "They both looked happy, but you could not pay me to go back to that age."

"Tell me about it. When I was seventeen, I dated Becky Johnson," Burt said. "I thought she was the greatest thing ever. She ended up dumping me for Brad Thomas."

"I was already with Chris," Carole said softly. "I was so sure that he was the one, that everything was going to be…" she shook her head. "At least Finn waited until I was done high school to make his appearance."

"Yeah." Burt sighed.

"I wish there was some way we could keep them from making all the same mistakes we made."

"Our parents probably said the same thing." Burt frowned. "In fact, now that I think about it, I remember my dad telling me Becky was no good for me."

"And my parents kept warning me about falling too hard for Chris."

"Huh. Funny. He really did know what he was talking about," Burt said. "Don't know that I would have traded it, though."

"I definitely wouldn't have." Although she would have changed things with Darren. Definitely.

"You think some day Kurt and Finn will actually listen to what we have to say?" Burt asked, squeezing her shoulders.

"When they have kids of their own," Carole said. "That's when I started realizing my parents knew more than I ever gave them credit for."

"Same here." Burt sighed. "They'll be okay, Carole. They'll get their bumps and bruises, but they'll be okay."

"I know. We were." She frowned. "You know, in a lot of ways, Finn is a lot like you."

"He is." Burt nodded. "And you and Kurt are a lot alike. And we turned out just fine, right?" He squeezed her again. "If we can manage being happy, I'm sure they can, too."

"You're right. I'm just glad it's them that have to do the teenage years, and not me."

"Me too." Burt smiled and kissed her, then turned out the light.


End file.
